Shad run ongoing in Connecticut River

Charles Walsh

Updated 8:49 pm, Saturday, May 5, 2012

For a number of years, my friend George and I have had a friendly but spirited debate about shad.

George says shad, the official state fish of Connecticut since 2003, is one of the best-eating fish in the sea, or at least in the Connecticut River. George has eaten shad on several occasions, including during visits to the famous Shad Festival in Essex, where they cook the fish the old-fashioned way by nailing butterflied filets to big hickory planks that face a large open fire.

I have eaten shad exactly once. It was quite a long time ago at a local restaurant that I cannot remember the name of. At the time, I thought the fish, which was topped by some kind of cream sauce, to be somewhat "fishy" tasting. Worse, I kept finding tiny hair-like bones in my portion.

The famous shad roe was not offered, but if it had been, I would have given the server my best "are you kidding" look. I'm a dedicated fish eater but I strongly believe fish eggs should be left in the seas to hatch. That was the day I put shad and shad roe on my lifetime "do not order" list, where it remains to this day.

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Every spring, the shad return from the open ocean to run up the Connecticut River to spawn. The run, which has been terrible for the past decade, is on right now. So far, things look encouraging for a stronger-than-normal run this spring. As one veteran shad fishermen told me Friday: "It's got to be better this year; the shad fishermen are not crying as much as usual." Restaurants along the Connecticut River report they have had shad on their menus for several weeks, and you can expect it to remain there through June.

Shad are an anadromous fish, meaning they begin their lives in freshwater but migrate to saltwater, where they spend the balance of their lives. Eventually, they return to their freshwater birthplaces to spawn and begin a new generation. The male fish are the first to hit the river followed closely by the females. It's all very romantic.

Unlike salmon that die after they swim upriver to spawn, female Shad can live to be 10 years old, and can return to the river four or five times to lay their eggs.

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Fishing report: Last week's rainy cold spell did little for the inshore fishing in the saltwater, but reports of large bass and even some early bluefish in the open Sound are encouraging. Bunker is still scarce on the Connecticut side, but they are massing in the middle of the Sound. Huge pods of sand eels are also moving into inshore waters. The strong herring run is due to disburse from the upriver areas and the large stripers should follow them south. Topwater lures like unweighted Slug-Goes and plastic eels will draw spectacular strikes. The blackfishing season is closed until July 1 after a fairly good spring run.
In the freshwater rivers, streams, ponds and lakes, stocking by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is keeping things lively. Victorian Portillo, 11, out trout fishing for the fist time in a local pond, hooked, landed and released a 5-pound rainbow on a Roostertail lure. She was fishing with grand pop, Tim Reed. Dry fly fishermen are doing well in the Housatonic and Farmington rivers. The Pequonnock River in Beardsley was stocked on Thursday. Largemouth bass are hitting in lakes like Waramaug and Candlewood on flashy skirted lures.
TROUT UNLIMITED: Bob Weslowski will discuss "Fishing the Croton Reservoir Watershed" at the regular monthly meeting of the Nutmeg Chapter of Trout Unlimited, May 15, at 7 p.m. at the Fayerweather Yacht Club, 51 Brewster St. Weslowski is the president of the 600-member Croton Trout Unlimited chapter and has fished that system for 15 years.
-- CHARLES WALSH

My problem with the bones in my restaurant portion is kind of understandable. Shad, one of the larger members of the herring family, have more than 1,200 bones in their bodies. It takes a person with the skill of a brain surgeon to get a bone-free filet.

The average shad weighs between 3 and 6 pounds when it hits the river, with the females being larger and heavier then the males.

When they are in the river in good numbers, shad are fairly easy to catch using a tiny pink lure called a shad dart, sold in all the tackle shops in the vicinity of the river. The once-thriving commercial shad fishery along the Connecticut is, thanks to the poor runs in recent years, now just a shadow of its former self.

Recreational fishers can cast out from the bank or from an anchored boat, and chances of a hit from a shad are fairly good. The daily bag limit for shad is one fish per day.

The shad run up the Connecticut is blocked by the Windsor Dam just north of Hartford. It is here that the fishing can get pretty hectic as boats converge on the concentrated fish while shore anglers cast into the middle of the fray. The shad run in the Connecticut River will last into mid-June.

If the opportunity presents itself, I plan to try eating shad again. Every fish deserves more than one chance.